Transplantation for amyloidosis.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

High-dose chemotherapy increasingly is being used for the management of patients with immunoglobulin light-chain amyloidosis. We describe nearly 300 patients who had treatment combining high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation at Mayo Clinic and review the recent literature.

RECENT FINDINGS

We review outcomes, engraftment data, and predictors of early mortality. The survival benefit of transplantation, however, has not been verified in a phase III clinical trial.

SUMMARY

Partial response rates and complete response rates are prognosticators of survival for patients with amyloidosis. These rates are much higher for patients who receive high-dose therapy and transplantation.